This year we have introduced a new programme for our Year 7/8 students. It is named the 10 x 20 programme to show the number of learning areas and the number or hours spent in each area over a year.

The learning areas covered are French/German, PE and Health, Science, The Arts, Maori, ICT, Fabric and Fibre, Foods, Design Technology and Hard Materials Technology. The students are divided into groups of 12 – 15 and rotate through all the areas over the year. Each Tuesday they have 2 classes in 2 different areas e.g. French/German and PE & Health.

The small numbers in each group means that both the teachers and the students are able to focus more on learning. It also means that teachers are able to plan programmes that allow more “hands on” activities and out of school visits than in a regular classroom.

Well done to the people who ran in the North Canterbury Cross Country Championships yesterday. Congratulations to Rosie Anderson, Sophie Glover, Camryn Sutton, Annie Evans and Alex Ross who were in the top 12 in their age group.

On a very cold and wet day in May, Rangiora Borough School held their annual Cross Country. All the children in the school participated from the youngest to the oldest students. This was second attempt to run the races as the first scheduled day had to be cancelled due to the terrible weather.

The Tahi team ran a mini 500m course around Dudley Park and they all very bravely completed the run.The winners and place getters were

These races were followed by the 3km race for the 11 and 12+ year olds. These students ran 3 laps of the course. It was great to see the students who had the persistence and the perseverance to complete the race even though the course was being packed up before they had finished. Special congratulations to April Adams who showed determination to see the race through to the end.

The winners and place getters were
11 Year Old Girls: Rebecca Heenan, Tayla Leatham, Natalia Barbarel
11 Year Old Boys: Alexander Ross, Gus Janssen,Jesse Alderson

Our Inquiry this term is “What does it mean to be a New Zealander?” All of our classes have been studying the many cultures that make up New Zealand today. As part of this, some teams have had visits from guest speakers.The Rua and Wha teams were both visited by Margaret Copeland, a storyteller who becomes a character from the first settlers, and tells the students what life was like for those who came to settle in a new country.

The Wha team also had a visit from Mike Cron, the All Black scrum doctor, who spoke about what it is like to be an All Black.

S6 and their buddies M10 combined to have a gumboot decorating competition. After the judging the classes went to Dudley Park for a gumboot throwing competition.

On Thursday 7 May J7 visited the Crusaders at AMI Stadium. They were allowed into the Team changing room (not many people are allowed in this room) where they were introduced to the Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder. Todd was very impressedwith the masks J7 were wearing!

Several Crusaders were available to speak to the children and the class had their photo taken with the players. They were then given Crusaders backpacks containing all sorts of goodies. The players autographed the backpacks for the children while they watched the rest of the team train on the field.

The children were then escorted up to the Level 3 area of the Paul Kelly stand where they were spoken to by the Crusaders manager Tony Thorpe. After this they went up to the Level 4 stand. What a long way up this was!! From here they had a very good view of the Captain’s Run. It was a long walk down to the ground floor!

The visit had a positive effect on both the children and the team who went on to win the game against the Reds and now sit in 4th place in the competition.

Our Term 1 school-wide Inquiry Theme was “The Question is the Answer”. In this inquiry classes studied a range of different topics – How we learn, Bullying, Building a Learning Community. Classes focused on thinking skills, questioning skills, and inquiry skills. To celebrate the new learning we held an expo showcasing the work from each class. This coincided with our Goal Setting interviews so with our 100% family turn out the expo was viewed by many people. Parents were so impressed with the work on display that they asked for the expo to be available for another day so that they could bring grandparents and other family members to see it!

Check out the slideshow below to see some of the work that was displayed.